For each of the following scenarios, write a bit about what sorts of evidence you think will be most persuasive. If you need very little evidence, feel free to say so. If you need a good deal of evidence, point that out as well.
Keep in mind that you need to consider your audience when you choose evidence. An atheist is not going to be convinced by Scripture; neither is a psychologist going to be convinced by a literary quotation. Choose your evidence well!
1. You have a friend who is of Jewish heritage; however, she has no religious belief. She asks you why, if God is good, He permitted the Holocaust to happen. What would you tell her?
2. You want to convince your professor that the reading load he has assigned is too heavy, given that you also have to write a research paper. You are asking him to eliminate one book from the class assignments so that you can concentrate on your own research.
3. You are writing an article for a theological journal arguing that heaven and hell must be understood as literal, physical places (as opposed to metaphorical or symbolic states of mind).
4. You want to start exercising for 30 minutes per day, but your spouse doesn't want to. How would you kindly convince your spouse to join you?
5. You are reviewing a book manuscript for a university press. Although the book is skillfully and stylishly written, you think it may obscure or leave out some important facts that need to be pointed out. How would you point this out (without suggesting the book is bad and shouldn't be accepted)?
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